Elevator



May 8, 1923- A. H. THOMAS ELEVATOR Filed Aug. 29, 1921 IAIN,

fill/7 A. H.THOM PI5, I Qwucntoz in abtozmq Patented May 8, 1923.

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- AVERY H. THOMAS, or HOUSTON, TEXAS, Assrenoa TO HOUSTON Polar-a SUPPLY COMPANY, or noosron, TEXAS, A CORIORATION or 'r' xAs.

ELEVATOR.

Application filedAngust 29, 1921; Serial No. 496,742. v

To all whom concern.

Be it known that I, AVERY H. THoMAs,a

citizen of the. United States, residingat- Houston, Harris County, Texas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Elevators, ofwhichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to elevators for use in well drilling: and pumping. It has particular reference to elevators used in handling pipe, casing, tubing, drill stem, etc.

when said pipe-is being introduced into the well or when it is. being removed therefrom.

The object of my invention is to provide an elevator for handling pipe which will be resiliently supported so as to withdraw a portion of the pipe a short distance when it has been detached from the string of pipe in the hole.

Another object is to provide an elevator which will prevent the wearing and 'mutila tion of the threadsat the joints when the sections of pipe are unscrewed and detached from the rest of the string. I

Another object is to so mount my elevator that it may turn about a vertical axis, thusv avoiding the necessity of a separate swivel.

These and various other objects and advantages are accomplished by a certain combination and relation of parts, the preferred embodiments of which are disclosed in the drawing herewith, wherein like numerals of reference are applied to like parts in all the views, as far as is possible,

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my invention, the upper part of which is shown partly in central longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the plane 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking upward. Fig. 3 is top plan view of the upper yoke in Fig. 1', and Fig. 4 is a modification of my invention.

My pipe elevator is shown assembled in Fig. 1, There is a grappling block 1 having a pipe receiving recess 2 therein, this recess being adapted to be closed by a latch 3. This block has laterally extending trunnions 4, furnishing a pivotal attachment for the lower ends of a U-shaped bail 5. p

The upper end of the bail 5 is extended upwardly to form a cylindrical post 6,

threaded at its upper end to receive a nut 7.

post. The upper face of said ring is grooved 14 upon which the yoke will rest when the spiral spring lfi actingto force said plate bail 5.

weight of the-elevator,-and theipipesus- 9 to receive the post and two lateral trun- 'nions' to pivotally receive thelower ends of ashort bail 11, the said ends of which have openings into which said trunnions *are adapted to fit.- j f I 60 Below the yoke 8 is a ring 12-fixed' to the to provide a track for a ball race 13 thereon. Between this ring and the yoke is a-wa sher' .65 weight is released from the elevator block 1. Immediately below 'thenut 7' is a plate 15'. slidable on the post 6 and having laterally extending forked ends which straddlethe' arms of the bail 11 and prevent rotation of said bail relative to the plate.

Between the plate 15 and the yoke 8 is a and yoke apart-and thus-furnisha resilient connection betweenthe bail l1 and: the

' Thus when the upper bail ll issecured' to the travelling block in the derrick, the

pended therein,'acts to pull the post-6 down wardly through the yoke 8' and compress the spring '16. 'I contemplate so calibrating'the v power of this spring; that it will .withstand, with only slight compress-ion, the weightofseveral joints of tubing or pipe, such as is being handled. The force of the spring will thus act to raise the joints of tubing released from the string in the hole. Ordinarily. when .a string of pipe is being removed from the hole, the elevator is secured about the upper end thereof and the string is lifted to expose several, joints of pipe, say three lengths thereof. The string of pipe is then supported near the derrick platform, by the rotary, or casing head as the case may be, andthe upper lengths are unscrewed and, when detached, are Iifted'and set aside on the platform. In unscrewingthe joint with the ordinary type of elevator the weight of the joints released either rests on the coupling where the-unscrewing takes place, or is held upward with great .force by the cable. Either way-it is handled, the-threads at the coupling will be liable to mutilation, due. to careless handling. Furthermore, when the upper sections are unscrewed it is necessary to start the hoisting drum to raisethe pipe so as to set it overand stand it on the. derrick Platform. 1 With the use of myelevator, the pipe is.

{titers 8, without resistance','the upward ment of my resilient mounting. trunnion l: of the elevator block 1 is supraised and the string allowed to rest in the rotary or casing head and the travelling block and elevator are raised only such distance as is necessary to compress the spring 16. The pipe is then unscrewed at the coupling and when fully disconnected, the force of the spring will be sufficient to raise the unscrewed sections away from those remaining. The force will not be sufficient, however, to break the threads nor will the pipe after unscrewing, rest on the coupling to mutilate the threads by the weight of the pipe above. The further that, it will not be necessary to start the draw works to raise the pipe to set the detached sections aside, but the spring will itself raise the pipe sufficiently to allow it to be'swung over and stood on the derrick platform. r

, It will also be noted that my device has a swivel action, making it unnecessary to employ the usual swivel connection with the travelling block. To facilitate this swivel action a ball race 17 is formed between the plate and the lower face of the nut 7. This will allow the post 6 and nut 7 to rotate relative to the bail 11, plate 15 and yoke thrust of the spring 16 being taken up in the antifriction bearing formed by the ball race 17 The ball race 13 allows free rotation thereon when the load is released.

In Fig. a I have shown a different embodi- Here the ported in a semicylindrical recess in the upper face of a block 18, fitting slidably within an elongated slot'19 in the lower end of the bail 5. The block 18 is held resiliently upadvantage will be ward by means of a spring 20, bearing at its lower end on the end of the slot 19. This spring is calibrated to support a load similar to that of spring 16 previously described. The operation and advantages of this construction are similar to those of the preferred embodiment, but the elevator does not have the swivel action as will be obvious.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In an elevator, the combination of a pipe clamping block, a post thereon, a yoke slidable on said post, a bail on said yoke, a stop nut on said post above said yoke, a spring on said. post between said yoke and said nut and means to hold said bail erect relative to said post.

2. In an elevator, the combination .of a pipe clamping block, a supporting means therefor including an upwardly extending post, a yoke slidable thereon, a bail on said post, a stop nut at the upper end of said post, a spring between said yoke and said stop nut, acting to force saidnut and yoke apart, and a plate on said post, acting tohold said bail erect. p

3. In an elevator, the. combination of a pipe-clamping block, lateral trunnions thereon, a supporting means comprising a single bail, secured to said trunnions, an upwardly-extending post on said bail,,a yoke slidable on said post, a resilientconnection between said yoke and said post, and supporting means forsaid yoke.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature this the 26th day of July, A. D.

AVERY H. THOMAS. 

